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It could work, with the right nn. I like Zibby.

I've always liked this name (but prf. the spelling Hepzibah) and I haven;t a clue why either! I think it would work on a child in the US. The thing is, today's namers just want to be unique and Hephzibah is definitely unique, so that's why it's workable.

I'm pretty sure it is workable. I agree with what a lot of people have said regarding that. Is there a reason you like Hephzibah (there is a usually a reason you like a name)? Only I much, much prefer Hepzibah. I loved the character Hepzibah Green in Carrie's War.

My doll's name was Hephzibah when i was little, so the name has a special place in my heart.

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My Cabbage Patch's name was Arabella Beatrice.

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ETA: Hmmm, I actually pronounced it HEP-zee-bah though.

This message was edited 2/15/2007, 1:50 PM

I think Hephzibah is really a love it or hate it sort of name but definitely doable. Why not? Zibby is really, really cute.

I'm personally not a fan of Hephzibah, but I like Mehetabel. Go figure. ;o) I can see why you like it, though. Fun syllables, letters that aren't normally combined in a name; it's truly different among all of the "we wanted her to be different" names out there. And as long as you don't call her "Heph," I'm totally cool with it!

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As for whether it could work on a (future) child in the US - I see no reason why it couldn't. I mean, with difficult spellings like Mykkenzeigh or Ehvanjalynne or D'Evaughn, at least Hephzibah is a name with substance.

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edited to change "are" to "aren't."

This message was edited 2/15/2007, 12:05 PM

It might be a problem if she ever read the book "Pollyanna." If I'm not mistaken, Aunt Polly's servant, Martha, who has always disliked her name, learns that she can be glad about it because at least it isn't Hephzibah! (Pollyanna tells a story about a Ladies Aid-er that she knew whose name was Hephzibah and whose husband was always calling her by saying "Hep! Hep!") So...that particular book kind of makes fun of the name, and she might feel bad if she read it knowing that the name they were making fun of was HER name, or if classmates read it and starting razzing her about it. :)

I think the "f" sound, with the "z" sound is somewhat difficult, involving the lower lip so much. However, it's not a bad name, certainly not overused, and I prefer it to miss-spelled Scottish last names being used as female first names. Go Hephzibah!

I think it's workable. There may be a slight problem with pronunciation, but I doubt it'd be that big a deal. Even common names get mispelled and mispronounced from time to time.

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Zibby's adorable, btw.

I really like this name and I love nn. Zibby. I think that if she were called Zibby then the pronunciation of Hephzibah wouldn't be too big a deal.

It's workable

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as long as you don't mind the (slight, heavy, or however you feel about it) burden of explaining to people how it's pronounced.

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To be really, truly unworkable versus just unconventional it'd probably have to be pretty bad. Piloqutinnguaq to me is unworkable; Blodeuwedd would be a no-go for me, too. But I tend to notice that Biblical or Hebrew names can veer into slightly complicated territory and people will still deal with them. I remember when Gore/Lieberman were on the presidential ticket the media seemed to handle Hadassah Lieberman's name without freaking out. :-)

This message was edited 2/15/2007, 9:39 AM

I actually love Hephzibah, it's nice to see another fan of it. :) I think it could work but be prepared for butchering of pronunciation, spelling etc. I personally think the pronunciation is pretty easy but that might just be cos I'm used to unusual names.

No, I really don't think it's workable. Sounds a hundredor more years out of date, and I don't know if many people would know how to prnounce it. I'm not sure myself: Hef-ZYE-Ba? HEF-zi-ba? Hep? I just don't see it as being a big success.

I really like Hepzibah, however I do think people will struggle to pronounce it and misspell it a lot. I guess it depends on how much it bothers you really. It does vaugely remind of hepatitis but I don't think most people will pick up on that.

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Eleanor x

I think it would be horribly misspelled and mispronounced, simply because many Americans (especially in the midwest) just aren't familiar with it. If that isn't a worry for you, sure it's workable. It's got a lot more character than Emma or Ashley.

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I think I would prefer to see Scarlet-Carson, though. :-)

Though the spelling put me off at first, just by the looks of it, I actually like the sound to a point, it's kind of starting the process of "growing on me."

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However, I'm not sure how well it would do in the US. I don't think that the girl would be teased or anything like that, but I think pronouncing the name and spelling it would be a problem for other people. But then again, that is their problem. So I'd say, yes, it wouldn't be an awful idea to use it, it would just be a sort of struggle with other people on the why of the name and other stuff they shouldn't particularly care about.

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Hope you can make sense of that. Haha. :D